Sunday, January 31, 2010

Where are the jobs?

Let me tell you a little secret. If you’re waiting for the old jobs that has been lost from the economic crisis to come back, don’t hold your breath because they’ll probably never come back. It doesn’t matter what the government does, or doesn’t do. These jobs will never come back.

The common folk will of course blame the government as they don’t really know any better. Meanwhile, wily financial and other large corporate companies will try to get some sweet deals from the government so they can increase hiring which they will have no intension of following through on.

So why is this happening you ask? Let me tell you.

Many corporations were forced to fire people as a result of the economic troubles. However, corporations did not just fire the necessary amount, but they fired as much as they possibly could. They took advantage of this opportunity to greatly reduce their workforce in order to reduce costs. They knew that they would be able to get the remaining people to do the work of 2 or 3 people, and they would be too frighten to complain. Companies also knew these people had nowhere to go as there are no jobs elsewhere. Hence, they’re able to push people to work harder without looking like the bad guy. At the same time, they will go back to their all mighty master (Wall Street) to report that they’ve done a wonderful job in cost cutting and hope to be rewarded.

So instead of facing this economic mess side by side with their employee to work through all the hardships, many corporations have taken this opportunity to make sure they come out on the other end looking good to the only group that they care about anymore. What’s worse is that this has become the norm for all corporations to behave because that’s what the culture has become on Wall Street. If your company doesn’t do it, others will and it’ll make you look bad.

Wall Street doesn’t care what the situation is around the world. It only cares that you reduce cost and increase profits any way necessary. If you don’t, you will be severely punished. End of story.

If corporations were to hire again, it would show in their bottom line that they have increased costs. Even though their employees are probably mostly burning out by now from the workload and stress, they know they’re still too afraid to complain to go elsewhere. The corporations know they can get the work done without hiring more people now, and there’s no way they would increase their operational cost at the fear of upsetting their master. You would be seriously mistaken if you think corporations care more about the well being of their employees over the views of Wall Street.

The bottom line. Making as much money as possible when given the chance without care for anyone involved. This is the mantra of capitalism. This is what happens when you believe corporations will simply behave and regulate themselves in the best interest of everyone. This is what happens when you believe uncontrolled and unregulated capitalism is good for society.